Resettable register



May 12, 1936. A. J. SAARINEN ET AL.

RESETTABLE REGISTER 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 8, 1931 gummou Qua/"up.

A. J. SAARINEN EIVAL 2,040,568

RESETTABLE REGI STER FiledJan. 8, 1931 s Sheets-Sheet s awuewtou L Patented May 12, 1936 PATENT orrlca P IRESETTABLE REGISTER Armas J. Saarinen, San Francisco, Calif., and William H. Curtis, Dayton, Ohio; said Saarinen assignor to Granberg Meter Corporation, San

. Francisco, Calif., a corporation of California,

. and said Curtis assignor to National Pumps Corporation, Dayton, Ohio, a corporation Ohio Application January 8, 1931, Serial No. 507,480 v 4 Claims.

The invention relates to rescttable registers useful in various fields but designed primarily for the meters of fuel dispensing pumps at garages, service stations and the like for showing the amount of fuel discharged at any dispensing operation. The pointers of such registers are customarily geared together and move in predetermined ratio when registering, but while said pointers are being reset they are moved in a different ratio, the pointers then turning independently of the meter or other prime mover which moves them in registering direction, due

to the provision of a friction or other clutch, The

resetting movements of the pointers in different ratio from their ratio of relative movements when registering, has heretofore necessitatedthat the above mentioned gearing embody one or; more additional clutches to prevent this gearing from looking and prohibiting necessary resetting movements of the pointers. It is one aim of the present invention however, to provide a new and improved mechanism in which the gear train for controlling the ratio of the pointers when registering, embodies special intermittent gearing which alone constitutes the sole special provision in, said gear train to prevent the latter from locking and prohibiting pointer resetting. at a difierent ratio from that in which the pointers move when registering. Hence, clutches heretofore 'necessaryfor this purpose, may be eliminated.

Registers of the general type above discussed, have heretofore been provided with a reset stop which has necessarily embodied a d pawl or the like carried by a fixed part such as the register frame or casing. It is a further aim of the present invention-however to provide a construction in which intrinsic parts of the pointer driving means alone constitute a reset stop, thereby effecting a still further simplification. In the practicable construction herein illustrated, the above mentloned intermittent gearing is so driven when resetting the register that portions thereof strike each other and establish the reset stop, even though these parts do not interfere during resetting movement of the pointers prior to their arrival at zero. In short, the invention provides a register which has few parts and which may be set back to zero with not more than two revoluv being accomplished by reference to the accompanyingdrawings.

Fig. 1 is a perspect've view with the casing removed.

Fig. 2 is a central vertical longitudinal sectional view partly broken away.

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view substantially on line 3-3 of Fig. 2 showing by arrows the directions in which certain parts rotate when the mechanism is registering.

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 but illustrating the manner in which register resetting is limited after retrograde rotation of parts-to effect such resetting.

Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view on line 5-5 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is a disassembled perspective view showing the gear which is frictionally connected with the main shaft of the register, and the totalizeroperating member in juxtaposition.

The preferred construction has been illustrated in the drawings and will be specifically described, with the understanding that within the scope of the invention as claimed, variations may be made.

.The register-embodies a horizontally elongated base plate Ill having a substantially central vertical bearing II for a. meter-driven shaft 12, the ends of said base plate being provided with lugs l3 and I3 to which dial plates l4 and M are secured by screws or other fasteners l5 and I5. Near its ends, the plate Ill is provided with integral upstanding end plates l6 and it which are spaced inwardly from said ends'and are disposed in vertical transverse planes, the upper portions of said end plates having integral outwardly projecting fingers l1 and II which terminate in the same vertical planes as the ends of the base plate [0, whereby the dial plates II and It may be secured to the outer ends of said fingers, by screws or other desired fasteners such as that shown at It in Fig. 2.

A casing IQ of any desired form preferably extends over all working parts hereinafter described, said casing being of arched form and lying against the vertical and upper edges of the end plates l6 and IS. The lower edges of the casing may be connected with flanges 20 with which the plate In is provided and provision may be made whereby access to parts within the easing, may be had whenever desired. The parts 2| on the base plate It, merely denote apertured bosses which are instrumental in securing said plate upon any adequate mounting means.

The plates l6 and I6 are each provided with an upper and a lower horizontal bearing. These bearings of the plate iii are shown at 23 and 24 respectively, and the uppermost bearing of the plate 16 is shown at 23' in Fig. 1. The main shaft 25 of the register is rotatably mounted in the lower bearings of the plates 16 and i6 and carries unit pointers 26 and 26' at its ends, said pointers being co-operable with the dials I4 and 14' respectively. Rotatable upon the end portions of the shaft 25, are two tubular shafts or sleeves 21 and 21' respectively, said sleeves passing rotatably through openings 23 and 23 formed centrally through the dials I4 and i4. Sleeve 21 carries a totalizing pointer 29 co-acting with the dial i4, and sleeve 21' carries a similar totalizing pointer coacting with the dial i4. Rigid with the sleeves 21 and 21' respectively, are two spur gears 33 and 36', said gears meshing with relatively small pinions 3| and 3| on an auxiliary shaft 32 which is mounted in the bearings 23 and 23, both pinions being secured to said shaft 32, preferably by set screws 33 and 33' respectively. Also rigidly secured upon shaft 32 and preferably integral with the pinion 3|, is a star wheel 34 which co-acts with a one-tooth gear or arm 35 clamped or otherwise secured to the main shaft ,25 to turn therewith. As long as shaft 25 is being drivenin registering direction, the arm 35 engages the star wheel 34 once upon each revolution of said shaft 25, consequently turning shaft 32 in a step-by-step manner while shaft 25 is continuously rotating. The result is that the unit pointers 26 and 26' move continuously over the dials l4 and 14', whereas the totalizing pointers 29 move only in a step-by-step manner, the sleeves 21 and 21' which carry said totalizing pointers, being driven by the intermeshing gears and pinions 33-41 and 363l.

To limit therotative steps of the star wheel 34, novel provision is made. A stop arm 36 is pivoted at 36 to the plate 16 and is notched at 36" to engage any tooth of said star wheel. Rigid with the stop arm 36 is a lever 31 disposed near the path of the arm 35, said lever 31 having a weight 31- acting to hold said stop arm 36 and lever 31 in the tooth-engaging position shown in Figs. 3 and 4. The lever 31 is provided with a cam'portion 33' disposed in the path of a lateral stud 35' carried by the arm 35. Each time arm 35 moves into position to mesh with star wheel. 34 when registering, the stud 35 strikes the cam 35, thereby swinging the parts 31 and 33 to the position dotted in Fig. 3, the notch 33' beinfl then disengaged from the star wheel 34 so that said star wheel is free to be turned one step by said arm 35. By the time this step has been completed, stud 35 has cleared the arm 31 and weight 31 has returned theparts 36 and 31 to the full line position of Fig. 3, disposing the stop arm 36 in position to abut the next star wheel tooth, thereby positively preventing any excessive movement on the part of said star wheel. The stop arm 36 is in the nature of a pawl and during reverse or resetting rotation of the star wheel 34, merely clicks idly over the teeth of said star wheel. I

The use of the stop arm 36 has been found desirable where the register is used on a meter through which the liquid is forced by a pump, since the vibration set up in the dispensing unit by the operation of the pump may cause creeping of the star wheel notwithstanding the use of the usual friction drag commonly employed to prevent excessive movement or overthrow of an intermittently rotated shaft or gear. Such a drag is shown in Figs. 1 and 2 and consists of a friction drum 32 fixed to shaft 32 and engaged by friction spring arms 32 mounted on the frame. While friction of the bearings may be sufficient to prevent the star wheel from overthrowing or creeping, it is desirable to use either the friction drag or both the drag and the positive stop arm 36.

Both of the sleeves 21 and 21 are of course loose upon the shaft 25, and a one way connection is provided between sleeve 21 and shaft 25 so that said shaft may drive said sleeve when the former is retrogradely rotated to reset the pointers. This one way connection as shown consists of a pin 38 slidable in an opening 35 in the sleeve 21, pressed normally inward by a suitable spring 43 and coacting with a flat portion 4| of the shaft 25. The pin 33 is preferably provided at its inner end with a flat portii n 33 which co-acts with the flat portion 4| of shaft 25. This one way connection merely idles during driving of parts in registering direction, but as will be clear from Figs. 3 and 4, as soon as shaft is sufficiently turned retrogradeiy (counter-clockwise in these views), the flat portion 41' of shaft 25 will so abut the flat portion of pin 33 as to establish a direct driving connection between said shaft 25 and the sleeve 21. Hence, while the shaft 25 is being retrogradely rotated to reset the pointers, the gear 36 rotates the pinion 3|, thereby retrogradely driving the shaft 32. The sleeve 21 and-shaft 25 rotating bodily during resetting, of course, reset the two pointers 26 and 29. The construction of the above described parts is such that the one way connection 33 comes into play and locks the sleeve 21 and shaft 25 to rotate unitarily when the unit pointer 26 is directly over or in registration with the totalizing pointer 23. Thecorresponding pointers at the other end of the register are reset, one directly by the shaft 25 and the other directly by the sleeve 21', the latter being driven through the instrumentality of the shaft 32, and the gearing 33' and 31'.

All of'the resetting movement of parts, after pin 35 unitarily connects the shaft 25 and sleeve 21, occurs during an idle period of the intermittent gearing 35-34 (arm 35 out of engagement with star wheel 34). Thus, this intermitt-nt gearing cannot interfere with rotation of the multiple and unit pointers in unison, instead of in the ratio at which they rotate when registering. Slip clutches and the like to allow resetting rotation of the pointer carrying parts at opposite ends of the pointer connecting gear train. at a different ratio from that in which they move when registering, are therefore unnecessary. At this point, it may be well to explain the latter statement more fully. The gear train connecting the pointers 26 and 23, is formed by the shaft 25, arm'35, star wheel 34, pinion 3|, gear 30 and sleeve 21. During registering, the shaft 25 at one end of this train and the sleeve 21 at the other end thereof, rotate in predetermined ratio to operate the pointers 26 and 29 in said ratio, but during resetting, after pin 38 has connected the shaft, 25 and sleeve 21, said shaft and sleeve both rotate at the same speed (in unison). Such rotation occurs during an idle period of the intermittent gearing 35--34 (arm 35 out of engagement with star wheel 34) so that this intermittent gearing cannot interfere with the necessary rotation of the parts 25 and 21 at opposite ends of the gear train, in a different ratio from that in which said parts 25 and 21, rotate when registering. Were permanently meshed gears, or Geneva gearing which looks after each operation, used in place of t e intermittent gearing 35 and 34, a slip clutch o the like would be necessary somewhere in the train to allow opposite ends of said 5 train to rotate at the necessary different ratio during resetting.

The gear train connecting the pointer 26 with the adjacent pointer (not shown) is formed by the shaft 25, arm 35, star wheel 34, shaft 32,

'10 pinion 3i, gear 30', and sleeve 21'. The intermittent gearing 35-34 functions in this train,

exactly as it does in the above explained train connecting the pointers 26 and 29.

Duringthe retrograde or resetting rotation of 15 the shaft 32, the star wheel 34 and the pinion 3| rotate bodily with this shaft. Similarly, the arm 35 andgear 30 (after being picked up by pin 38) then rotate bodily with the shaft 25. Attention is invited to the fact that the star wheel 34 has a 20 greater pitch diameter than the pinion 3| and that the mutilated, one-tooth gear or arm 35 has a correspondingly less pitch diameter than the gear 30. These differences in pitch diameter,

cause such abnormal relative rotation of the arm 25 35 and star wheel 34 during the retrograde or v resetting movement of shaft 25 that the star wheel and arm interfere or lock'as shown in Fig. 4 at the end of the resetting operation, at which time the two pointers are in zero position 30' on the dial. Thus, a reset stop is provided without the use of the usual stop pawl-or other parts extraneous tothe driving means for the pointers, and it is possible to accomplish the reset with not more than two revolutions of the unit pointer 35 e and with the use of fewer clutches than used in all other resettalole registers known to us. This operation of the parts will be clear upon referring to Fig. .4. When shaft 25 which has fixed to it the unit pointer 25 is turned counter-clockwise,

,40 it turns in sleeve 21- to which the totalizing pointer 29 is fixed, until its flatportion 4| engages the fiat portion 38*. of pin 38 whereupon the sleeve and hence the gear 39 will also turn with shaft 25. At that time, the two pointers will be 45 in registration or superimposed and both will then move with shaft 25. During this movement of shaft 25, gear 35 will move pinion 3| and hencestar wheel 34 sothat when the two pointers reach the zero position on the dial, the arm 35 and the 50 tooth 34' of .the star wheel 34 will both reach the positions shown in Fig. 4 wherein they strike and further movement of the parts is positively stopped. In the practical embodiment of the invention shown in the drawings, the star wheel 34 55 has eight teeth, the gear 3! sixteen teeth, and the gear 35 forty teeth. It will be evident that not more than two revolutions of the unit pointer shaft 25 will be necessary to reset the pointers. Assuming that the quantity of liquid dispensed 60 has been nineteen and one-half gallons and it is desired to resetthe register, when the shaft 25 is turned counter-clockwise, the unit pointer will turn retrogradely past the zero mark on the dial, and simultaneously, through arm 35 meshing 65 with star wheel .34, the totalizing pointer will be moved back from the nineteen gallon mark to the eighteen gallon nfark. As the unit pointer continues its retrograde movement and arrives over the eighteen gallon mark on which the 7 totalizing pointer rests, the latter will be picked up and both pointers will then turn retrogradely, until they arrive at zero. In this operation, the

' arm 35 will make more than one complete revolution and as it-passes by the star wheel 34, the lat- 75 to! will be turned by said arm because up to that time the pin 38 has not locked the sleeve 21 and gear 30 to turn with shaft 25. However, when arm 35 again attempts to pass the star wheel at. the end of the resetting operation, the interference or looking action above mentioned will occur.

It will be seen from the above eiiplanation that during registering, the drive for the shaft 32, is through the shaft 25, arm 3 5 and star wheel 34, whereas during resetting, during which shaft 25 is retrogradely turned; the driving means for shaft 32 is through said shaft 25, the sleeve 21, the one way connection between said shaft and sleeve, the gear 30 and the pinion 3!. Throughout the resetting of parts, arm 35 and star wheel 34 merely turn with their respective shafts 25 and 32, but at the proper time, tooth 34' strikes arm 35 as seen in Fig. 4, limiting the resetting movement. Thus, the parts 34 and 35 perform the dual function of driving register parts when registering and limiting the resetting of said register parts when such resetting is, necessary. By providing a structure in which this dual function may be assigned to the parts 34 and 35 or their equivalents, a simplification is effected which could not otherwise be readily attained.

For turning shaft retrogradely to reset the pointers, any suitable provision may he made, such as a rotatable knob 45 preferably having an appropriate ratchet connection 46 with said shaft. A frictional drive is provided between the shaft l2 and the shaft 25 to allow the latter to rotate without rotating the former, during resetting movement. This frictional drive for convenience of manufacture may be of the structure described below.

A pinion "is secured on the shaft l2 and meshes with a gear '48 which is loose upon shaft 25. Adjacent this gear 48, is an operating member 49 for a totalizer 50, said gear 48 and member 49 having telescopic hubs 5| and 52 respec- 4o tively, the former being provided with 9. lug 53 received in a notch'54 .in the latter, so that the parts 48 and 49 will rotate together. These parts are positioned between a fixed abutment 55 on the shaft 25', and a spring-pressed abutment 56 on said shaft, a friction washer 51 being interposed between the huli 52 and the abutment 55' and a similar washer 58 being positioned between the parts48-and 56. A compression spring 59 acts at one end against the abutment 56 and at its other end thrusts against a fixed collar 60 on the shaft 25.

By the arrangement above described, a frictional driving connection is established between the shaft 25 and the parts 48 and 49, so that as long as shaft I2 is being rotated, the shaft 25 will be driven. However, when shaft 25 must be retrogr'adely turned for resetting purposes, the frictional connection slips and allows said shaft to turn within the hubs 5| and 52.. Not only does the spring 59 assist in establishing this frictional driving connection, but it holds the means 5354 interengaged, so that the parts 48 and 49 must rotate unitarlly whenever the former is driven, thereby causing the latter to operate the totalizer 58. During resetting, the parts 48 and 49 do not rotate and consequently the reading of the totalizer will not be changed by such resets.

As usual, in registers of the class described, a 7

It will be seen from the foregoing that novel and advantageous provision has been made for producing a simple, accurate and very desirable register. Particular attention is invited to the dual function of the parts 34 and 35, said parts serving not only as intermittent driving means for the totalizing pointer or pointers when registering, but acting as reset limiting means. This permits intrinsic parts of the'pointer-driving means to alone function as a reset stop and dispenses with the use of the usual friction clutch or clutches that have been provided in resettable registers of this character to prevent locking of the gearing when the parts are being reset at a different ratio of pointer movement from that in which the pointers move during registering.

As above stated, variations may be made within the scope of the invention as claimed, and it is to be understood that although the pointers of the register are preferably in the form of hands, they need not be of this type but could be of any other.

We claim:--

1. In a register, two pointers, a gear train connecting said pointers for movement in predetermined ratio, said gear train comprising continuously meshed gearing, and intermittent gearing having periods of complete disengagement, means for driving said gear train to operate said' pointers in said predetermined ratio for registering,

and reset means for driving said gear train and rotating said pointers at a different ratio during a period of complete disengagement of said intermittent gearing to reset the register after both pointers have registered, the gears of said train being pitched'to cause interfering engagement of said intermittent gearing at the end of the resetting operation to provide a reset stop.

2. In a register, a driven pointer-carrying shaft, a pointer-carrying sleeve surrounding said shaft, a gear on said sleeve, apinion in mesh with said gear, a star-wheel co-axial with and rotatable bodily with said pinion, means mounting said pinion and star-wheel on an axis parallel with said shaft, an arm secured to said shaft to engage and turn said star wheel one pointer advancing.

step upon each registering revolution of said shaft, means for retrogradedly rotating said' shaft to reset the shaft-carried pointer, and a one-way clutch operable to connect said shaft and sleeve for unitary retrograde rotation after both pointers have registered and the shaft carried pointer has been retrogradedly turned to the same relative position then occupied by the sleeve-carried pointer, said star-wheel and pinion having different pitch diam'ters and. said gearand arm having corresponding different pitch diameters, causing said 5 star-wheel and arm to interfere for establishing a reset stop.

3. In a register, a pointer-actuating star-wheel,

a rotatable arm for successively engaging and driving said star-wheel, and means for reversely 1n driving said star-wheel and arm out of the ratio at which they move to effect registering to reset the register; said reverse driving means embodying permanently meshed gears for moving said star-wheel and arm into interfering contact with each other at the completion of pointer resetting, thereby establishing a reset stop.

4. In a register, two pointers, means for continuously rotating one of said pointers in registering direction, a gear train for transmitting movement from said pointer-driving means to the other pointer whereby the two pointers will rotate at a predetermined ratio for registering; said gear train comprising continuously meshed gearing operatively connected with said other 2.1 pointer, and intermittent gearing for driving said continuously meshed gears: said intermittent gearing having a driven member operatively connected with said continuously meshed gearing and a driving member operatively connected with saidpointer-drlving means, said driven and driving members having periods of engagement to actuate said other pointer, and having periods of complete disengagement; a manually actuated knob for turning said pointer-driving means retrogradedly to reset said one pointer, and a oneway clutch for operatively connecting the reversely rotating pointer-driving means with one of the gears of said permanently meshed gearing to reset said other-pointer if the latter has registered, said one-way clutch being timed to operatively connect said reversely rotating pointerdriving means with said one gear when said one pointer has been reset to the same relative position then occupied by said other pointer, at which time said intermittent gearing is disengaged, the gears of said train being pitched to cause interfering engagement of said intermittent gearing at the end of the resetting operation, thereby establishing a reset stop.

. ARMAS J. SAARINEN. WILLIAM H. CURTIS. 

